Vikas Patnekar says REPRESENTATION is not ART

First published May 2010
Vikas Patnekar is talented young water colour artist from Belgaum who studied under the guidance of Late Shri. K.B. Kulkarni. Vikas has received a number interesting commissions during 2006 and 2007 and his paintings now hang in the offices of the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai, the Mumbai and Delhi offices of Macquarie Bank and the office of Impact India Foundation. They have now also reached the shores of USA, Australia and the UK, where Lord Attenborough now has two of his paintings hanging in his home.

Born in 1966, Vikas Patnekar was born and educated in his home town Belgaum. He studied at Benyon Smith high school Belgaum.

When reflecting back on the past Vikas always states that it was such a blessing to have grown up in Belgaum where he had to create his own entertainment from the natural world that always surrounded him. He lived in his imagination and expressed himself through drawing and painting.

After completing his education in 1985, Patnekar relocated to Mumbai in search of job opportunities. Finally, after slogging, he landed a job as an illustrator at an advertising agency. In addition he freelanced for various advertising agencies in Mumbai and gulf countries. Finally, in 1997, Patnekar made a major career decision to leave advertising in pursuit of his muse – watercolors. He loves to portray the villages, the green fields, the ever buzzing streets in India , waterfalls, the miseries, etc.

For an artist, life is very interesting when looked at very closely. For the past 22 years. Continuing, he shares his enthusiasm for watercolor painting, the joy of spontaneous creation that comes with watercolor and the emotional release of telling a story of the beautiful world around him. Vikas believes an artist’s work should reflect what’s going on inside the artist. An artist should always bring in some kind of emotions or feelings into his work and when it comes, there is a possibility that the painting might look wonderful. Secondly, an artist should never describe a painting verbally. He has to leave it up to the viewer to decide.

Vikas has always said that he is not interested in just painting pretty landscapes or seascapes unless he can pull some deep feelings out of it, because REPRESENTATION is not ART! In addition, he feels one has to see the drama in the ordinary. It is all there, if one will only take time to discover it.

His collections are at the following places:

Alex de Grunwald – England, Claire Tuhey -England, Lord Attenborough – England, Maurice Sinclaire -Australia, Helen Deas – England, Stuart Smythe -Australia,

Fraser Kitione – Figi, Helen Balke -Germany, Peter Forby -Australia, Fred Means -England,

Rachel Eccleston – England, Dedorah Shurvell – England, Phill Michell -Australia, Garry Luton – Canada, And many more in India and abroad.